While the gathered officers were still marveling at Kiana's almost supernatural "lightness skill," murmuring among themselves as if they had just seen a living protagonist straight out of a wuxia novel—
a deep, resonant voice drifted in from the entrance to the training hall, the kind of voice that seemed to come with its own background music.
"Impressive! That's no mere qinggong—that's top-tier combat instinct! Even if I dragged out the ace of our SWAT team, I'm not sure they'd have reflexes like that."
The crowd parted on its own, opening a path.
A tall, powerfully built woman strode in with long, confident steps.
She wore her hair cropped short and neat, and was dressed in black SWAT training gear. Her sleeves were rolled high above her elbows, revealing bronze-toned forearms marked with several obvious scars.
Even the gust of air stirred up by her walk seemed to carry the scent of gunpowder.
"Instructor Liu!"
"Captain Liu!"
The officers around them snapped to attention and saluted, their eyes filled not only with respect, but also a kind of excited anticipation, as if they were about to watch something interesting unfold.
This woman was a legend in Tianqiong City's police force: Liu Yisi, the one they called the Demon Instructor.
Rumor had it that before retiring, she had led an elite special operations unit and had once carved her way in and out of a den of vicious drug traffickers with nothing but her bare hands.
Ever since she had taken over training for the SWAT division, the recruits had been worked so hard they cried for their parents every day.
People joked that they might as well carve the name "Liu Yisi" into their bedposts as a ward against evil—but arrest success rates had skyrocketed.
"Li... Liu Yisi?"
Kiana widened her eyes.
This Valkyrie had actually appeared in St. Freya's textbooks before. Her image was so… well, rough and imposing, that among the girls at St. Freya there had been a running joke:
A true Valkyrie had short, efficient hair, broad and powerful hands, a firm and unyielding gaze, a lean, battle-trained physique, skin darkened by sun and wind, and practical combat gear with no nonsense attached.
And Liu Yisi fit that description perfectly.
"So this is the one you meant when you said 'counterpart'?"
Kiana lowered her voice to whisper to Su Yu.
"From one angle, the world really is small," Su Yu said helplessly with a shrug. "The more you learn about this world, the more familiar faces you'll probably find."
"But they aren't the people from that world, right?" Kiana murmured softly.
"That's not entirely true."
His answer made Kiana pause.
"At least in some parts of their personality, there'll still be similarities," he said with a smile. "Like Mei—she's been very gentle with you too, hasn't she? And Kevin... that guy used to be even more reckless than you."
"More reckless... than me?" Kiana opened her mouth, unable to picture it at all. That white-haired, stone-faced handsome guy—her "counterpart"—used to be more impulsive than her?
No, wait, spit spit spit! She'd almost fallen for it. She wasn't reckless at all! That idiot Su Yu was insulting her in disguise again!
"If there's a chance later, I'll take you to meet some of the other counterparts too," Su Yu said with a grin. "But first, I think you'll have to get through this one. This Instructor Liu Yisi is definitely here for you."
Kiana said nothing.
Back in her old world, she had always wanted to properly meet more powerful Valkyries.
This world had no Honkai, and this Liu Yisi was only a counterpart.
But Kiana could tell—this woman had real skill.
To reach this level in a world without Honkai truly was worthy of the title Valkyrie.
Liu Yisi paid no attention to the reactions around her. She stopped right in front of Su Yu and Kiana.
Her sharp eyes locked onto Kiana as if she were a hunter who had just discovered an extremely rare beast.
It was the kind of instinct that responded to a kindred spirit—or perhaps simply to strength.
"Young lady, those moves just now? Beautiful. Really beautiful."
Liu Yisi glanced at Su Yu and let out a rough little sound of acknowledgment.
"Your physical base isn't bad either, but compared to your junior sister, you're still lacking."
Su Yu kept his expression calm, but inwardly he was startled—Liu Yisi's eye really was frighteningly sharp.
Then again, from what she had just said, his current physical condition was probably no worse than that of a trained soldier. Of course, real combat ability was another matter entirely. After all, the only actual "martial art" he knew was probably the sixth elementary school calisthenics routine.
He had strength without technique. Looks like it really was time to start training.
Life was drifting farther and farther away from those early days of lounging around with a pack of undeveloped cat-themed meal kits in hand.
Then again, as the saying went—iced tea just tasted better when shared with someone else.
"Did you hear that? So they really are senior and junior from the same sect? Instructor Liu hardly ever praises anyone—looks like this Taixu Sect really does have hidden dragons and crouching tigers."
"I thought this kind of thing only happened in novels. I've really broadened my horizons today."
"So the world has officially evolved into something I can no longer understand?"
Several officers whispered among themselves.
Liu Yisi kept looking Kiana up and down, and the more she saw, the brighter her eyes became.
"Your base is stable. Your reactions are fast. No wasted movement."
"This definitely isn't some pretty form you polished in a gym. These are instincts fed by real combat."
She grinned broadly, flashing white teeth, her whole expression carrying a fierce, almost feral charm.
"If you're really a master from the Taixu Sect, what's the point of hitting balls? That stuff's for children training hand-eye coordination. Come on—let's trade a few moves."
As she spoke, she tugged off her outer jacket, revealing the black compression tank underneath, then casually tossed the jacket to a nearby officer.
She rolled her wrists, making them crack sharply.
"Don't worry. I know how to hold back. We'll stop at the right point."
Dr. Mei pushed up her glasses, but instead of looking at Liu Yisi, her gaze shifted to Su Yu.
She was asking for his opinion.
After all, Kiana was here because of Su Yu, and she still had that special restriction on her.
If Kiana lost control, or if someone got seriously hurt, no one would be able to shoulder the consequences.
This sudden challenge made Su Yu's heart tighten.
A sparring match with Liu Yisi was nothing like dodging machine-thrown baseballs.
This was a real fight.
And judging by Liu Yisi's stance, she was absolutely the genuine article.
If Kiana misjudged her strength and punched this legendary officer flying...
"Um, Instructor Liu, maybe this is a bit..."
Su Yu hurried forward, instinctively moving to stand between them.
"My junior sister just came down from the mountains, so she doesn't really understand sparring etiquette. And she's also tired from all the earlier testing…"
"Tired? Does she look tired to you? She hasn't even broken a sweat."
Liu Yisi laughed loudly and completely ignored his excuse.
She looked at Kiana, and there was open challenge in her eyes.
"What, is your Taixu Sect the kind that only fights dead things, not living people? Or are you looking down on me, some roughneck who only knows military boxing?"
That landed exactly on a Kaslana pressure point.
Kiana had softened a lot lately—she was more of a "well-behaved little junior sister" now.
But the combative instinct flowing in her blood was not something that could ever be fully erased.
When faced with a challenge from someone strong, retreat was never her first choice.
Kiana gently pushed Su Yu aside.
"It's fine, Senior Brother."
She looked directly at Liu Yisi, and battle spirit flickered to life in those mismatched eyes.
"Since Senior has offered guidance, I'd be honored to accept."
"Good! That's the spirit!"
Liu Yisi barked the words out with obvious delight. No more nonsense. She immediately dropped into a standard combat stance.
The atmosphere around the hall exploded.
The officers all held their breath, terrified of missing even the tiniest detail. One young officer who had just been chatting with the front desk girl even pulled out his phone to start recording—
only to be quickly reminded that this was classified internal footage, at which point he awkwardly deleted the video and sat back down.
Dr. Mei silently withdrew to a safe distance and motioned for the staff to switch on the high-speed cameras.
This was valuable sample data.
"Careful!"
Before the last syllable had even landed, Liu Yisi moved.
Still as a mountain, swift as thunder.
There was no flashy probing. She drove in with a textbook-straight punch aimed directly at Kiana's face, the force of the wind it generated strong enough that even Su Yu, standing several meters away, could feel it brush his cheek.
This was the kind of thing known as a killing technique—simple, efficient, deadly.
Faced with that fierce punch, Kiana didn't evade in a flashy way like she had during the ball test.
She merely dropped her shoulder slightly. Her left hand shot out like lightning, precisely catching Liu Yisi's wrist and drawing it backward in one smooth motion.
Four ounces to move a thousand pounds.
Liu Yisi felt a force that seemed soft at first—until it became utterly irresistible, yanking her center of gravity off-balance.
But she was no amateur. Her transitions were razor-fast. Using the shifted momentum, she swept a leg toward Kiana's base in a ruthless low kick.
Against an ordinary person, that kick would have broken bone on contact.
But Kiana had already seen it coming.
The moment Liu Yisi's leg moved, Kiana launched herself upward.
It wasn't like those wuxia dramas where people flew on obvious wires.
It was a completely unreasonable, gravity-defying hanging backflip—like a swallow turning in midair.
She even had the leisure to adjust her posture while airborne, lightly planting both feet on the leg Liu Yisi had swept out.
Using that as a springboard, she rose again, then landed softly three meters behind Liu Yisi.
"Whoa! What elegant qinggong!"
Liu Yisi's eyes shone brighter than ever.
That kick of hers had felt as though it had struck not a human leg, but a slab of steel. Her own shin was tingling from the impact.
This girl's body was absurd. A monster.
"Again!"
Liu Yisi shouted, delighted, and charged in once more.
This time she really stopped holding back.
Joint locks, throws, even military combat techniques designed to maim and kill came out in quick succession.
Kiana remained in total control.
She didn't use any superhuman strength. She relied purely on technique and reaction.
Kaslana gun-fu might have been famous for its firearm component, but its hand-to-hand framework was also a synthesis of countless real battlefield killing methods.
Under Kiana's deliberate restraint, those moves—once meant for cutting down Honkai beasts—became a dazzling display of clean, elegant counters.
Plenty of teammates used to say Kiana was a complete berserker.
But instinct honed through life-and-death battle never went away.
And now, half of Kiana's external brain seemed to be living in Su Yu, and the other half in herself.
A Kaslana driven into a corner ran at full clock speed—or else how do you think she survived during all those years after Siegfried disappeared?
Break the rhythm. Redirect the force. Dissolve the impact.
Every time Liu Yisi made contact, it felt as though her strength was vanishing into cotton—or striking a spring that sent it back elsewhere, never where she wanted it to land.
Bang!
With the final clash of fist and palm, both women stepped backward at the same time.
The gasps and startled noises from the surrounding officers hadn't stopped once, and now they broke into thunderous applause all over again, clearly treating the entire bout as an absolutely spectacular show.
"Honestly, I could barely keep up with their movements."
"As expected of Instructor Liu Yisi—the nemesis of evil!"
"That little girl's no joke either. She actually held her own against Instructor Liu!"
Held her own?
Su Yu quietly shook his head.
Unlike the others, he didn't need a high-speed camera to follow the fight.
Sure, he was a complete amateur who had only ever watched martial arts movies, but even he could tell who had been stronger.
Liu Yisi was breathing hard now, sweat covering her forehead, but her face was lit with a wild, exhilarated grin.
Kiana, on the other hand, had nothing more than slightly mussed bangs. Her face wasn't red, her breathing hadn't changed, and she even had the spare attention to dust some dirt off her sleeves.
The difference was obvious.
Kiana had been holding back.
"Refreshing! Damn, that was refreshing!"
Liu Yisi wiped her face with zero concern for elegance, then strode over to Kiana, raising a hand to clap her on the shoulder.
Su Yu jumped a little, ready to warn her—
but Kiana didn't dodge. She let that broad, powerful hand land on her shoulder without protest.
"Young lady, with skills like yours, it'd be a waste to stay hidden away as some reclusive martial artist!"
Liu Yisi looked at Kiana like she was staring at a precious uncut gem.
"How about it? Interested in joining our SWAT team? I can push through a special approval for you!"
"I've spent my whole life in the military and police world, and I've never seen anyone your age move like that. If you came, I'd hand you my captain's seat myself!"
"I can get you fast-tracked recruitment! A formal post, a residence registration, housing—everything!"
"At that point we'd be colleagues. You'd have a real stage to shine on! What criminal wouldn't go down like chopped vegetables in front of you?"
This was a personal invitation from Liu Yisi, the Nemesis of Evil herself.
And it came with state employment and housing.
The surrounding officers were so jealous their eyes practically fell out.
This was a one-step leap straight into the sky.
Kiana froze for a moment.
Looking at the sincerity in Liu Yisi's eyes, she felt warmth gather in her chest.
In her old world, because of the Herrscher lurking inside her, she had only ever been feared, hunted, and rejected.
And now, in this peaceful world, someone was recognizing her because of her strength, accepting her, even inviting her to become part of the people protecting the city.
That feeling…
It was really, really good.
Almost unconsciously, she turned to look at Su Yu at the edge of the hall.
That man who had been paying attention to her the whole time. That man who, after every exchange, took two nervous steps closer without thinking, always keeping himself right at the edge of the "safe distance."
She couldn't leave him.
If she joined the SWAT team, it would mean facing danger again and again.
If it were only her, that would've been fine. She wasn't afraid of death.
But she couldn't drag Su Yu into danger. And she definitely couldn't bring trouble to him because of who—or what—she was.
That stupid senior brother who couldn't even tell a lie properly when he was trying to protect her—
he needed her protection.
The Kaslana sense of justice in her made part of her feel tempted, yes.
But in Kiana's heart right now, the most important person was still the idiot who bought her pizza, stayed up late making games for her, and fought the entire world just to keep her safe.
"Um…"
Kiana scratched her head awkwardly. "Instructor Liu, thank you for the offer. Really. But…"
"Junior Sister is still in the middle of her cultivation. Her heart isn't settled yet, so she shouldn't go too deeply into the mundane world."
Su Yu stepped up at just the right time, naturally placing himself beside Kiana and cutting off Liu Yisi's intense stare.
"Wow, look at how protective he is! This is too sweet."
"Senior brother and junior sister? I ship it. I want a senior brother like that too!"
"He's so doting! I swear, during that spar, the handsome senior brother kept clenching his fists. He looked more nervous than if he'd been fighting himself."
"Not just that. After every single round he was moving closer, terrified his junior sister might get hurt. Tsk, kids these days…"
Su Yu pretended not to hear the gossip.
He smiled gently at Liu Yisi, looking every inch the agent of some hidden sect.
"Our school values preserving spiritual balance during worldly training. It emphasizes moving with fate."
"If she joined the official system by force, she might accumulate too much karmic entanglement. That would damage her state of cultivation, and for a martial practitioner, that is a major taboo."
That mystic nonsense left Liu Yisi blinking.
Karma? Cultivation? Mental state?
"You really do talk in circles, kid. Though I swear I've heard stuff like this before. Wait, where…"
Forget it.
She didn't understand a word, but it definitely sounded impressive.
No wonder they were from some hidden sect.
"Still…"
Su Yu shifted tone, careful not to shut the door entirely. This was too useful a future official connection to throw away.
"Our sect has always regarded chivalry and punishing evil as its duty."
"Although she can't formally join your ranks, if Instructor Liu ever runs into especially troublesome cases—cases that truly violate heaven's order…"
He glanced at Kiana.
"…then I believe Junior Sister wouldn't stand by and watch. Eliminating evil and protecting the innocent is the duty of martial practitioners."
A classic retreat-to-advance strategy.
It left Kiana a path for the future—after all, she'd still need a way to make a living one day. Freelance vigilante wasn't the worst career option—and it also gave Liu Yisi plenty of face instead of rejecting her outright.
As expected, Liu Yisi's eyes lit up again.
"Good! Now that's the spirit!"
She thumped Su Yu's shoulder with a huge hand. Su Yu felt like half his body had gone numb.
If this had been before his physical enhancement, that single slap would've finished him.
"You've got a solid enough build, kid, but how come you don't compare to your junior sister at all? What's up with that?"
"I, ahem, I came down from the mountain earlier than she did. And ancient martial arts… well, it's not something just anyone can endure."
Su Yu made the excuse awkwardly. Liu Yisi just burst out laughing.
"Fair enough! With your junior sister trained up like this, she must've gone through hell. Ordinary people definitely couldn't handle it."
The broad-minded Liu Yisi didn't bother digging into the holes in Su Yu's story.
Everyone had secrets. Besides, with Dr. Mei backing the whole thing, that was enough for her.
As long as Kiana wasn't breaking the law, then she was a lawful citizen. That was good enough.
"Then let's do this—I'll register Kiana as a volunteer vigilante first!"
"You won't need to clock in or report for duty every day. But if a major case comes up, I'll call you!"
"Don't worry, the rewards aren't bad either! Assisting investigations, acts of bravery—there are hefty bonuses for all of that!"
At the word bonuses, Kiana's eyes instantly turned into shining gold coins.
Money!
That meant lots and lots of delicious pizza and cake!
She could also buy new clothes for Su Yu, that idiot who rotated between only two outfits, or maybe replace his worn-out graphics card!
Anyway, with money, you could do a lot of things in this world!
If Su Yu had heard exactly what she was thinking at that moment, he probably would've dropped to his knees in gratitude and called her his sworn benefactor on the spot.
Don't ask whether it's shameless for an adult man to treat a teenage girl like a patron. Just know the meme folder would've gotten another addition.
"Then it's settled!"
Kiana agreed happily, her smile brighter than it had been even after winning the spar.
Looking at that girl smiling so openly under the sunlight, seemingly no longer weighed down by the shadows of her past, Su Yu finally let out a quiet breath.
This wasn't just about the residence registration.
It was about helping her find her own place in this world.
A place where she could have value.
A place where she could belong.
She still couldn't leave him now—but one day, that little cat would grow into a true lion.
And until that day came, all he had to do was hold the line at this final safe distance and be the strongest support she had.
"Oh, right!"
Liu Yisi suddenly looked as though she'd remembered something, and her eyes lit up again.
"That's where I heard that kind of talk before!"
"There was another specially contracted vigilante in Tianqiong City Police before. Her family runs a martial arts school, and every single person there is a monster."
"Back then, an A-rank wanted criminal happened to barge into the place where she was working part-time, and the next thing anyone knew, he was pinned to the floor."
"But I heard the whole incident wrecked her part-time job. Though my daughter says that girl's working at a convenience store now?"
Su Yu: "?"
Convenience store front desk Hua had arrived.
The world really was small.
....
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